Checking account hunting...

[Anonymous]

Not strictly a CC question, but the wife and I are looking to switch our checking/savings from BoA to another institution, ideally a Credit Union.

We need an institution that has an app, sold online banking, and good phone service. I'm relatively new to the country so looking for somewhere to build a complete relationship with - home, car and anything else we might need.

Anyone have any recommendations on where to look at all? We're in Georgia if that helps at all?

[Anonymous]

There are several sites that can be helpful, e.g. http://www.bankrate.com/

FWIW: I would use only online institutions.  Barclays has a 0.9% savings account and there are others around that rate.  Most banks and CUs have nothing like that.  Interesting checking from Ally, Everbank, Capital One 360 are also all good.

[09Lexie]

You are right, this isn't a CC question. Not familiar with GA CUs but I'd suggest, Alliant, NFCU if you are eligible to join, SDFCU, DCU is good too but they do not have live 24 hr service.


****Moving to Gen Credit Topics*******

[zyzzus]

I am an advocate for DCU. They have solid online banking relatively liberal guidelines for legal Tnding (car loans) telephone support has been positive for myself.
Recently the application has been somewhat of a challenge for some YMMV. It is a hard on EQ. They also offer a free FICO score from Equifax.

[Anonymous]

I don't know much about all the different banks and CUs out there, but I do know that for the most part, banks tend to have higher fees.  Whereas CUs tend to have fewer fees.

You can google or bankrate all the different banks and CUs out there, but I would maybe add to your list of needs to include a financial institution that has no to few fees.

I have NFCU and they are great.  Free checking, free checks, and a great institution to have a relationship with.

[Anonymous]

Make sure you pay attention to both CU's and Banks funds availability policies. Banks tend to release funds quicker than CUs.

[Anonymous]

Credit Unions I feel tend to have superiore service and products; although, their websites aren't as fancy or clean as big bully banks.

With a number of nation-wide Credit Unions, they are part of a nationwide no-fee ATM network. I recently joined a CU that is located in the Maryland area, but I can make ATM withdrawals and deposits at select ATM fee-free; a lot of these ATMs aren't the little kiosk models inside drug store either *cough*Capital1 360*cough*, but rather ATMs located at local Credit Unions.

As for online/phone access.. I'm not much help here. I know USAA has phone app, and I have used their check-by-phone deposit (not as easy as they make it sound). One thing to note is that USAA dropped compatibility with Windows 8 phones, which is bummer for me since I have a Windows 7.5 phone and would like to upgrade to a W8 phone some day 

With a CU and USAA you also get paid earlier... lol, I'm paid on Thursdays while everyone else I work with has to wait till Friday

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Credit Unions I feel tend to have superiore service and products; although, their websites aren't as fancy or clean as big bully banks.

With a number of nation-wide Credit Unions, they are part of a nationwide no-fee ATM network. I recently joined a CU that is located in the Maryland area, but I can make ATM withdrawals and deposits at select ATM fee-free; a lot of these ATMs aren't the little kiosk models inside drug store either *cough*Capital1 360*cough*, but rather ATMs located at local Credit Unions.

As for online/phone access.. I'm not much help here. I know USAA has phone app, and I have used their check-by-phone deposit (not as easy as they make it sound). One thing to note is that USAA dropped compatibility with Windows 8 phones, which is bummer for me since I have a Windows 7.5 phone and would like to upgrade to a W8 phone some day 

With a CU and USAA you also get paid earlier... lol, I'm paid on Thursdays while everyone else I work with has to wait till Friday

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Not with NFCU.  I didn't get paid til payday.  USAA was always 3 or 4 days early.

I never used the deposit by phone since I didn't qualify for it.  You have to have a CC with them.  But I did use the deposit at a UPS store which is ok if there is one near you.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input, guys.

I've done a little research and I might well be leaning towards Chase, Sovereign, or HSBC. Any experiences with these at all? positive or negative...

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm not much help here. I know USAA has phone app, and I have used their check-by-phone deposit (not as easy as they make it sound). 

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It has always been easy for me but I'm using IOS where you seem to be WIndows.  What sort of problems have you had?